The Obama administration recently completed negotiations with 11 other nations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and we now have access to the full and complete text of the agreement.

I look forward to learning more about the details, but there’s much we already know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. While it’s a historic deal that connects economies on four continents and fundamentally shapes the rules of the road for global commerce, I’m supporting this deal because of the impact it will have for the workers and families in the neighborhoods I represent.

As a legislator representing northwest Dallas, I hear from constituents every day about their concerns: safe neighborhoods, affordable health care, high-quality schools and well-paying jobs that can support a family. So when the inflammatory rhetoric around international trade heats up, it can be hard to understand why it matters. However, I urge my colleagues in the Texas Legislature to support the TPP and for Congress to pass this agreement.

The TPP is an important tool to support well-paying Texas jobs. The deal will cut foreign taxes on made-in-America goods, and since more than half of Texas’ exports go to TPP countries, this will allow our local businesses to sell more of their products abroad.

And because export-related jobs pay 18 percent more on average than non-export jobs, this is great news for Dallas workers and their families.

For example, in my district, Mary Kay Inc. operates a facility that employs over 600 manufacturing and research-and-development workers. The facility already exports more than half of its products to customers abroad, and passing the TPP will help Mary Kay reach new customers to support more production, grow its operation and sustain good manufacturing jobs in Dallas.

But large employers such as Mary Kay aren’t the only ones that will benefit. In addition to cutting foreign taxes and opening new markets, the TPP is the first trade agreement with a dedicated chapter for small businesses.

It addresses trade barriers such as customs red tape, corruption and overly complex trade paperwork faced disproportionately by small businesses. Ninety-three percent of Texas exporters are small- or medium-size businesses, so this is important.

Members of Congress should do everything in their power to support good jobs for my neighbors and constituents and create more opportunity for Dallas businesses. They should support the TPP.

State Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, is the chairman of the International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee in the Texas House. Reach him at rafael.anchia@house.state.tx.us.